Please note: This event ended on 6 January 2023
In this Lunchtime Talk Nikesh Shukla will talk about imposter syndrome, artistic failure, the projects that didn't happen and the ideas that never got finished, and how none of that is bad.
An inspiring and empowering start to the year, Nikesh says:
"My entire career is strewn with unmade scripts, un-finished novels, essays that could have changed the world if I had just edited them properly, and ideas I had in the shower that felt amazing till I started to actually work on them. It's also overspilling with rejection, regret, projects that felt like sure things that imploded with one email and times I did something half-heartedly just to get paid.
Look, I'm not special. This is the career of most artists. We fall in love with ideas, overcommit ourselves, make concessions and compromises and try our best to change the world, and it doesn't always shake out like that. I've been thinking about my failures and near-misses a lot recently, and I have a lot to say about how these all made me a better artist, a better person and a better mentor. Over the course of an hour I will talk you through some of my projects that failed spectacularly, and I'll show you how they made me a better version of myself. I am the author of eight books that have been published, and a Booker-winning book I could never bring myself to finish. My most famous book was written by 20 other people...."
About Nikesh Shukla
A novelist and screenwriter, Nikesh is the author of Coconut Unlimited (shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award), Meatspace and the critically acclaimed The One Who Wrote Destiny. Nikesh is the editor of the bestselling essay collection, The Good Immigrant, which won the reader's choice at the Books Are My Bag Awards. He co-edited The Good Immigrant USA with Chimene Suleyman. He is the author of two YA novels, Run, Riot (shortlisted for a National Book Award) and The Boxer (longlisted for the Carnegie Medal). Nikesh was one of Time Magazine’s cultural leaders, Foreign Policy magazine's 100 Global Thinkers and The Bookseller's 100 most influential people in publishing in 2016 and in 2017. He is the co-founder of The Good Literary Agency. Nikesh’s new book, Brown Baby: A Memoir Of Race, Family And Home was released on Bluebird in February 2021. He has also written a book on writing called Your Story Matters.
Open Studio Fridays
From 10:00 - 17:00 you can stay at the Studio for Open Studio Fridays - join us to continue the conversation or work on your own projects. The Studio provides chairs, tables, wireless and a great space. You bring what you need to work with (laptop/mobile). Tell us what you’re up to, or allow us to facilitate conversations within the resident community. Studio staff and residents will be around to chat, answer questions, or tell you more about what we do. The open afternoons close at 17:00, sometimes with a trip to the Café & Bar.
Where to find us
The Lunchtime Talks take place in the Pervasive Media Studio, which is in the Watershed building. The Studio is just beyond the Café & Bar, turn right and then go down the corridor to your left (where the toilets are). The double doors here will be open, go all the way down until you reach the Studio. A member of staff will sign you in, and check your ticket, if you have booked.